


Light in the Darkness

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: Stingue [3]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Ambushes and Sneak Attacks, Darkness, Established Relationship, Forgiveness, Love, Protectiveness, Serious Injuries, Shadows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-25 11:43:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16660516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: The shadows have never disappeared. The darkness that nearly consumed him in Crocus is always there waiting to consume him. But his own personal light is there to show him the way forward.





	Light in the Darkness

   Rogue’s thoughts were chaotic as he stalked through the trees making no effort to mask his movements, his eyes narrowed as he searched for any traces of his prey. His hands clenching as he caught the faint scent trail lingering in the air although he faltered as he detected the coppery tang that accompanied it. The shadows curved towards him as he froze, eyes wide as the scent registered and his hands clenched as the image of Natsu springing in front of Sting to protect him flashed through his mind. He had been too slow, too distracted and he’d nearly lost his light, and because of his carelessness, their friend had been severely injured.

_I wanted to be someone who can protect his friends and yet…_

   The more logical part of his mind knew that there had honestly been nothing that he could have done. That everyone’s roles could so easily have been reversed that it was pointless to blame himself, and yet that part of his mind was barely a whisper in the face of the guilt and anger assaulting him. It didn’t help that Sting had looked so worried when he was examining Natsu’s injury, the damp blue eyes haunting him in a way that nothing else could, and he swallowed hard as he glanced back down the path he had come along. He knew that he should have stayed with them. But they hadn’t managed to get all of their attackers, and those they had missed had fled, and the thought of a single one of them escaping raised his hackles, and the shadows grew even darker around him.

   His hesitation faded as the darkness crowded in around him once more and he straightened. They had been aiming to take out his light, there was no way he could afford to risk them getting another chance. There was no way he would let them. His magic crackled around him with fresh aggression and his eyes narrowed as he moved forwards, allowing the shadows stretch out around him

**

   Sting bit his lip as Natsu let out a soft hiss of pain, shooting the other Dragon-slayer an apologetic glance as he cautiously continued to clean the nasty gash that stretched from Natsu’s shoulder down to just above his belt. It wasn’t as deep as he’d initially thought but it was still bleeding heavily, and there were traces of dirt in it from their dash to find shelter. And it was proving difficult to clean with their limited supplies, and he cursed the fact that Wendy had gone with the other group as they could really use her skills right now.

   Grimacing he glanced up at Natsu as he realised that the other mage had become quiet, eyes narrowing at the pained expression on the Fire mage’s face and the way his eyes were screwed shut as he clearly struggled to stop himself from crying out and he felt his guilt intensifying. The other Dragon-slayer had only got hurt because he hadn’t been paying attention to his surroundings, and now all he seemed to be doing was causing him more discomfort. He closed his eyes for a moment as he took a deep breath, knowing that he had to keep going for Natsu’s sake, his mind drifting back to the events that had led to this.

_“Are you sure we’re heading in the right direction?” Sting asked doubtfully as he glanced around at the seemingly never-ending ocean of trees, before turning to glower at Natsu who had insisted on dragging them into the forest because of a whiff of something he had picked up in the air._

_“Of course,” Natsu replied at once looking somewhat offended at the doubtful question, his expression morphing into a knowing grin as he tapped the side of his nose with a laugh before adding brightly. “You should know our noses never lie!” Lector and Frosch giggled at his words, but neither cat seemed overly convinced by the argument, and Sting sighed as his feline partner shot him a pleading look, knowing that the cat disliked forests at the best of times. Let alone when they were following a hot-headed idiot who might be leading them in completely the wrong direction._

_“Yeah but we’ve been walking for ages, and there’s been no sign of anyone,” Sting pointed out. He felt bad for doubting Natsu, especially as he hadn’t picked up anything yet. And considering Rogue’s continued silence neither had he. But he couldn’t help but wonder if they should have stuck with the rest of the Fairy Tail group who had headed to the village that had issued the job to find out more about the bandit group they were hired to catch._ _“What do you think?” He asked turning to look at his partner, hoping that if he sided with him that they might be able to convince the stubborn Fire mage to turn back._

_“Maybe we should have…” Rogue began hesitantly as he glanced towards Natsu who didn’t seem to be paying attention to the conversation anymore, and he was about to continue when he spotted movement just behind the blond, and his eyes widened with horror. “Sting!” He shouted already darting forward as their intended targets emerged from the trees, dark eyes fixated on the mage heading for his best-friend with a magical sword at the ready, already knowing that there was no way he could get there in time._

_“Move!” Suddenly Natsu was there, the flames at his feet telling them how he had got there so quickly and Sting found himself being shoved to the ground, rolling over just as the Fire mage let out a shout of pain._

_“Natsu-san!” Sting shouted in horror as the Fire mage dropped to his knees with a pained grunt, surging to his feet and darting in front of the downed Dragon-slayer as their opponent closed in for another attack, barely aware of the other mages as they disappeared into the shadows with panicked cries. “Iron Fist of the White Dragon!” He roared furiously, the blow shattering the sword and sending its wielder flying off into the trees with a shrill cry and he immediately whirled around to check on Natsu, eyes widening as he took in the large gash that had been inflicted and the blood now staining the Fire mage’s front. “Natsu…”_

_“ROAR OF THE SHADOW DRAGON!” Rogue’s shout startled him out of his shock, and he looked up just in time to see another pair of mages fall beneath the force of the attack. His eyes widening as he sniffed the air, realising that they were surrounded by an array of scents and he wanted to groan, of all the times to actually find the entire bandit group…_

_“Damn it,” he muttered under his breath before meeting Natsu’s eyes as the Fire mage glanced searchingly at the surrounded trees. “Looks like your nose was spot on.”_

_“Heh, told you…” Natsu glanced at him as he let out a weak laugh, his face paling as he forced himself back to his feet. For a second he swayed violently, and Sting instinctively reached out to grasp his arm, eyes narrowing as he felt the tremors running through the Fire mage and there was a hint of anger in his voice as he demanded._

_“What are you doing?”_

_“Fighting,” Natsu replied as he tugged his arm free and took a shaky step forward, shooting an incredulous look at Sting for the question and the Light Dragon Slayer had to fight the urge to hit the stubborn idiot. “We can’t let them get away…” Natsu’s voice trailed off suddenly, his hand darting to his injury even as he began to topple forward and Sting cursed as he only just managed to catch the other Dragon-slayer before he could hit the ground._

_“There’s no way you can fight like this!” He scolded, his anger disappearing as he became aware of the blood on his fingers and he stiffened for a moment. Barely aware of the sounds of fighting as Rogue worked on shielding them, although he knew that he couldn’t leave his partner to deal with all the mages on his own._

_“Yes, I…” Natsu tried to protest, struggling to try and free himself from Sting’s hold with a mulish expression on his face. However, a moment later his eyes widened with alarm, and for a brief second their gazes met before the Fire mage seemed to collapse in on himself with a whispered. “Oh…” A moment later his eyes slipped shut, and he went limp in Sting’s hold throwing the other Dragon-slayer into a panic._

_“Natsu-san? Natsu?” He called frantically even as he lowered the unconscious mage to the ground, swallowing at the lack of response before his eyes hardened and he looked up. He briefly noted Rogue downing another mage before his attention turned to the Exceeds who had taken shelter at the base of a nearby tree and he urgently beckoned to them. “Lector, you and Frosch need to get him out of here!”_

_“But…” Lector protested as they approached, and Sting sighed knowing that the cats would be reluctant to leave them behind, but he couldn’t see any other option in their current situation._

_“We’ll catch up with you!” He replied hurriedly before gesturing at Natsu. “But Natsu can’t stay here.” There was no way they could fight freely if they had to keep an eye on the Fire mage, there was too high a risk that the bandits might try to use him against them. And besides their attacks tended to get fairly destructed and there was no way he wanted to be responsible for causing even more harm to Natsu._

_“Alright,” Lector agreed after a long moment although there was obvious reluctance in his tone, and Frosch nodded quietly beside him, obediently following the other Exceed as he moved across to Natsu. Their magic lighting the air around them for a moment as their wings appeared, and he nodded approvingly as they carefully grabbed hold on Natsu’s shoulders clearly worried about pulling on his injury, working in unison to lift the Fire mage of the ground._

_“Go!” Sting ordered, trying not to allow Natsu’s appearance to bother him as he knew that he needed to focus on this fight. He waited until they were safely in the air before he whirled with a sharp cry, his magic unfurling and bathing the trees in an almost blinding white light. “HOLY RAY!”_

**

   The battle hadn’t lasted long as neither Sting nor Rogue had been in the mood to hold back, and he was reasonably sure they were going to get into some trouble for the amount of damage they had caused. Although at least there hadn’t been any homes or anything particularly valuable nearby for them to wreck. Their opponents hadn’t been overly powerful although he could see why they had posed such a problem to the local authorities, and they’d certainly had strength in numbers. Not that that had been enough to help them against enraged Dragon-slayers.

  Once the last one had fallen, Rogue had insisted that he go after the Exceeds and take care of Natsu while he dealt with their prisoners. He had been reluctant to leave the other Dragon-slayer behind, especially as there was a darkness in his eyes when their gazes met that worried him. Reminding him of the expression on Rogue’s face when he had found him during the battle with the Dragons in Crocus, and he couldn’t help but fear that his partner might disappear into the shadows if he was left on his own. Yet he knew that Natsu needed medical attention urgently, and neither Exceed was equipped to deal with that, and he had hesitated, torn between both choices until Rogue had eventually given him a push growling at him to make sure Natsu was okay.

   Giving into the order, he had chased after the Exceeds, easily able to pick up their scents in the air and it hadn’t taken him long to find them sheltering under a small cluster of trees. To his relief, Natsu had regained consciousness although it was clear that he still wasn’t doing brilliantly, and after grabbing Lector’s backpack, he had chased the Exceeds off to go and help Rogue so that he could focus on doing what he could for the Fire Mage. Relieved beyond belief that Rogue had been so stubborn about them both learning how to deal with injuries back when they first teamed up. He had been reluctant at the time, not wanting to acknowledge the possibility of defeat or potential injury, but thankfully his partner had been more stubborn than him that time.

“Thank you,” Sting murmured softly as he carefully set aside the bloody cloths he had been using to clean the wound, picking up the bandages that Lector had left beside him and eyeing up the now sluggishly bleeding gash as he tried to work out the best way to do this.

“Huh,” Natsu mumbled as he finally opened his eyes again, then the words registered and his eyes softened slightly as he caught the guilt in the blond’s face and he shook his head before quietly scolding the other Dragon-slayer. “Idiot, that’s not something you need to thank me for. You would have done the same.”

“Yeah…” Sting mumbled somewhat taken aback by the sheer certainty in the Fire mage’s voice, and his fingers trembled as he finally set to work wrapping the bandages around Natsu’s torso, muttering a quiet apology as Natsu groaned as he had to sit forward to let Sting wrap the material around his back. It still stunned the younger Dragon-slayer that the Fire mage had been so willing to forgive them for their actions during the Grand Magic Games. Let alone actually befriending them, and now they owed him even more for his actions today. “But still…”

“It’s fine,” Natsu said with a strained smile as he struggled to hold himself up, letting out a soft sigh of relief when Sting indicated he could lean back against the tree once more and a slightly wicked grin appeared as something occurred to him. “Although you get to explain to Gray what happened.” The Ice mage hadn’t been impressed when Erza had decided that he was going to be on her team rather than being with his boyfriend, and it had taken a stern threat from her to stop him from throwing a fit over it. And there was no way he was going to be happy with Natsu getting hurt and Sting paled at the thought of having to explain all this to the possessive Ice mage.

“He’s going to kill me…”

“Maybe just a little,” Natsu teased softly.

“How do you kill someone just a little?” Sting demanded incredulously as he turned his attention back to tying of the bandages, worried to see specks of crimson already coming through the material and he carefully stifled a curse at the sight so that he wouldn’t alarm Natsu.

“Light maiming,” Natsu replied quietly with a small shrug, wincing as pain shot through him from the gesture. “Ow.”

“Stay still you idiot,” Sting scolded, and they both froze slightly, realising that it was the first time that he had insulted the Fire mage in a friendly manner and after a moment Natsu laughed, stubbornly ignoring how much it hurt.

“Just tell Gray I’m an idiot, and you’ll be safe,” he said once he had his laughter under control, reaching up to wipe at his eyes before slumping against the tree as the pain ebbed away to a background hum, leaving him feeling oddly empty and exhausted. Sting observed the change with concern, knowing that Natsu still needed proper treatment and he was just opening his mouth to suggest that they should get moving in search of the others when Frosch and Lector came rushing up to them.

“I can’t find Rogue!” Frosch cried upon reaching them, tears swimming in wide eyes and Sting looked up with a scowl, looking to Lector for answers as he knew that they wouldn’t be able to get any sense out of Frosch at the moment. Beside him, Natsu shifted uneasily, and the blond shot him a warning glare just daring him to try and move in his condition, although he was touched by the concern he could see in the other’s expression.

“What?”

“We looked around but there’s no sign of him,” Lector explained seriously, reaching out to lay a reassuring paw on Frosch’s shoulder as the smaller cat let out a sob at his words. It had taken a lot of quick-speaking to stop the other cat from rushing off in search of the missing Dragon-slayer, and he could tell that Frosch was regretting agreeing to come back and find Sting. “I think he’s gone after them. There was no sign of the mage that attacked Natsu-san, but the others were all there tied up.”

“Damn,” Natsu muttered, remembering the sheer terror he had heard in Rogue’s voice when he had shouted out to warn Sting of the impending attack. Clearly, the Shadow Dragon-slayer hadn’t forgiven that sneak attack and had taken it upon himself to go after the escapee. That in itself wasn’t a cause for worry as he knew that Rogue was more than capable of taking care of himself. However, he had never been able to forget the possibility of what Rogue could become, and he knew that one of the main things holding off that future was the Dragon-slayer in front of him.

“That idiot,” Sting growled under his breath rising to his feet with the intention of chasing after his partner, but then he hesitated as he glanced at Natsu worriedly. “I…”

“Go and find him,” Natsu ordered sternly as he saw the conflicted expression on Sting’s face. There was no way he was up for rushing around the forest searching for the errant mage, but he was perfectly capable of sitting here and waiting for them to come back or for Erza’s team to come and find them.

“But…”

“I’m fine,” Natsu cut across his protest, and Sting turned back to look at him with an arched eyebrow, blue eyes disbelieving as his gaze slid down to the bandages covering most of his torso and Natsu sighed before letting out a weak laugh as he corrected himself. “All right, I’m not fine, but I’m not in danger of dropping dead anytime soon so I can wait for the others to arrive.” Truthfully he wasn’t a hundred per cent sure how true those words were, but there was no way he was going to be the reason that Sting stayed behind and risked something happening to the Shadow Dragon-slayer.

“Are…” Sting began hesitantly. Torn between seeking out his partner and staying with the wounded Fire mage. Usually it wouldn’t be much of a choice, but Natsu had been injured protecting him, and they still had no idea when the rest of the Fairy Tail team would manage to find them, and he wasn’t fooled by the confident expression on Natsu’s face as he tried to brush off the severity of his wound.

“Go!” Natsu shouted, and flames flickered in his eyes for a moment, and Sting hesitated a moment before nodding as he realised that there was no way he could win this argument. Especially when he wanted to go after Rogue.

“Thank you Natsu-san,” Sting murmured adding this to the list of things that he owed Natsu for, turning to look at the Exceeds with a stern expression. “Lector, can you stay here and keep an eye on him?” He waited until his partner nodded reluctantly in agreement, smiling at him gratefully before turning to look at the still crying cat beside him and adding gently. “Frosch you’re coming with me, we’re going to go find Rogue and drag his ass back here.” Frosch sniffled but nodded quietly, following obediently as Sting began to hurry away, the faint glow of magic across his skin betraying just how worried he was for his missing teammate.

“Jeez those idiots,” Natsu muttered beneath his breath once the other Dragon-slayer was out of hearing, wincing as he struggled to find a comfy position against the tree and ignoring the glare he received from Lector for his words.

 _Hurry up and find him_ …

****

  Rogue’s expression was blank as he towered over his prey, having finally tracked down the swordsman after being led astray several times by false trails. Although in the end nothing had been able to thwart his shadows, and he had found the man concealed with a small corpse of trees using his magic to drag him out into the open and hold him in place. Now as he studied the mage lying stretched out in front of him, he couldn’t stop the anger surging in his chest, unable to shake the memory of the gleeful expression the man had worn when he had first attacked. There was no doubt in his mind that he had been aiming to seriously hurt if not kill Sting, and he would have taken pleasure from that fact.

That he would have derived pleasure from destroying his world.

“I give in! I give in!” The swordsman was babbling now, clearly having seen something in his expression that terrified him and the Dragon-slayer could smell the pure, unadulterated fear radiating from the man and something inside purred in contentment at that reaction.

_You should fear me…_

“I don’t care,” he said instead, circling the downed mage like a wolf circling his pray, allowing his shadows to play across his victim’s skin and enjoying the terrified shudders wracking the man. A small voice at the back of his mind that sounded suspiciously like Sting was telling him that he shouldn’t be doing this, that this was wrong. But the voice was buried beneath the dark satisfaction rising from the sight of the man writhing under the touch of his magic.

“But, y-you’re a guild mage…” The man protested desperately, and Rogue paused for a moment, and it was clear that the other mage thought that he’d managed to wiggle out of trouble. “You can’t kill me!” He cried out in terror when the shadows tightened around his chest making it difficult to breathe, almost sobbing with relief when the pressure eased up after a moment, although he was still shaking violently as he turned terrified eyes towards the Dragon-slayer.

“Why not?” Rogue asked conversationally, dark eyes narrow as he studied the man for a second before continuing coldly. “You were willing to try and kill us.”

“I…”

“You are the ones that attacked us,” Rogue repeated, and the darkness intensified as he turned his attention to his shadows, his lips twitching up in a cruel smirk as one tendril split apart, slowly shifting into a dark replica of the blade that the man had wielded in the original attack. The weapon that had nearly destroyed his light. “I’m merely finishing that fight.”

**

   It hadn’t taken Sting long to pick up his partner’s trail, his concern rising as he realised that Rogue had been making absolutely no effort to hide his passage. The Shadow mage could pass without the slightest trace when the mood took him, and the fact that he was making no effort to do so was worrying as it usually meant that he had no intentions of holding back. The blond wasn’t blind to the darkness that inhabited his partner, and he knew that it had leaked out at least for a while during the events in Crocus and he couldn’t help but fear that today’s events might cause it to leak out once more and he was desperate to find him before that could happen. However, there was no way he was going to voice that thought aloud when Frosch was cradled in his arms, quiet now that they were actually out searching for Rogue.

   It didn’t take long for him to pick up on the increasing darkness of the shadows beneath the trees and he sucked in an alarmed breath, knowing what that meant, and he came to a halt causing Frosch to look up at him in confusion. Shivering slightly as he felt the darkness brushing against him he knelt down and settled the little Exceed on the ground, resting a hand gently on Frosch’s head.

“Frosch I want you to wait here for me,” he ordered softly, knowing that if Rogue had given into his darker side that he was going to need to knock some sense into him and there was no way he wanted the sensitive cat to witness that. Plus Rogue would never forgive him if he let him.

“But…”

“I promise I will bring Rogue back with me,” Sting vowed, cutting across the weak protest, his expression one of grim determination as he met Frosch’s gaze and after a long moment the Exceed nodding unhappily in agreement. “We’ll be back as soon as we can, don’t wander off,” he added as he straightened, waiting until he received a second slightly less reluctant nod before dashing off in the direction where the darkness seemed stronger.

_Wait for me, Rogue…_

**

   Rogue finally stopped pacing, his eyes alight with unholy delight as he gestured at his shadowed blade, watching it rise into position above the mage and practically vibrating with anticipation. The small voice in the back of his mind was still screaming at him to stop, but he paid it no mind, all that mattered was the one that had attacked his partner was punished. That Sting was safe. The mage was crying now, begging endlessly for his life as he realised that the Dragon-slayer really had no intention of stopping, but Rogue was deaf to his words as he raised his hand ready to finish this as he grew tired of the unwanted noise.

“WHITE DRAGON’S CLAW!” A familiar voice roared, and suddenly the whole world vanished in a blaze of white, the shadows melting away before its power and Rogue found himself slumping to the ground in relief, resisting the urge to close his eyes as he felt the magic taking hold and freezing him in place. He didn’t care if it made his eyes run from the brightness. He needed this whiteness, this light, to drive out the darkness that he had thought he’d left behind on the streets of Crocus.

“Sting?” He managed to whisper as the light finally began to fade, although he could feel the stigma thrumming with power against his chest and he glanced down at it, still needing to see the light as he felt the darkness receding. Allowing horror to seep in as he realised what he’d just been about to do.

What he had been looking forward to doing.

“Who else would it be you idiot?” Sting grumbled and suddenly he was there in front of Rogue, crouching down and Rogue found it impossible to look at his partner, terrified that he would see fear or anger over what he had been about to do. What he was capable of when the darkness took him. He didn’t know what he would do if Sting turned away from now. “What were you doing taking off on your own?” The amount of concern in the question made him glance up, and he froze as he found himself staring directly into worried blue eyes, and he blinked as he realised that there was no sign of the emotions that he had been expecting to see.

“I…” Rogue hesitated for a moment, his gaze drifting to the other mage for a moment and he was startled to realise that Sting must’ve managed to knock him out at some point. There was still a spark of anger when he glanced at the man, but there was none of the darkness and unadulterated rage that had propelled him only moments before, and he sighed as he whispered. “He tried to hurt you…”

“I know,” Sting’s voice was startlingly soft, and Rogue gaped at him, unable to believe his partner was so understanding after witnessing what he had been about to do. “But this wasn’t the way to go,” he scolded, and Rogue hung his head, here it came. The anger, disappointment and blame that he had been expecting from the start, and he braced himself. Instead, he nearly fell forwards as the stigma vanished from his chest, only to feel Sting’s arms wrapping around him to hold him up and he was unable to resist the urge to bury his face against the other Dragon-slayer so that he could drink in his familiar scent.

“Don’t disappear,” he whispered with a hint of desperation in his voice as he clutched at Sting’s back, still half-waiting for the other mage to shove him away and scold him.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Sting said softly as he tightened his hold on Rogue, easily guessing the reason behind the tension still lingering in his partner’s body. The other Dragon-slayer still expected him to push him away for his actions and there was no way that Sting was ever going to do that, knowing that if someone ever hurt Rogue, there was no force out there that would stop him from razing the enemy to the ground. “You do realise I was the idiot that wasn’t paying attention earlier? It’s because of you shouting out and Natsu-san that I’m alright,” he settled for saying, realising that sharing such thoughts wouldn’t help in this situation. Besides he needed his partner to understand that there was nothing that he could have done, and therefore nothing for Sting to blame him about.

“But…” Rogue muttered softly, pulling back just enough to be able to peer up at Sting with suspiciously moist eyes as he added guiltily. “I didn’t get there in time.”

“You were too far away,” Sting pointed out reasonably. “That’s not your fault.”

“But…”

“Stop overthinking things,” Sting ordered leaning down as Rogue opened his mouth to protest again, blue eyes soft as he pressed a soft kiss to the other Dragon-slayer’s lips, struggling not to laugh at the slightly cross-eyed expression he received when he pulled away. “I’m fine and so are you, and Natsu will be fine once we get him to Wendy. So stop blaming yourself and worrying about what ifs.”

“What about the shadows…the darkness?” Rogue forced himself to ask, barely resisting the urge to reach up and brush his fingers against his lips, a small spark of hope forming in his chest as Sting laughed softly before shaking his head.

“I don’t care about that,” Sting replied firmly, making sure to hold Rogue’s gaze as he spoke as he didn’t want the other Dragon-slayer to be able to come up with any doubts or fresh fears, smiling broadly as he pointed a thumb at his chest. “Besides what darkness stands a chance when I’m around?” Rogue gaped at him for a moment, stunned both by the words and the brief return of the original, cocky Sting, and suddenly laughter bubbled up in his chest, and he giggled before he could stop himself, his laughter intensifying at the offended look he received. His giggles were infectious though, and after a moment Sting began to laugh too, clutching the Shadow Dragon-slayer tightly against himself and relishing the giggles coming from the usually too-serious mage.

   It took several moments for them to calm down and when they did Rogue slumped against Sting as he panted. Feeling lighter than he had for a while and if it hadn’t been for the mage sprawled nearby and the fact that Natsu was waiting for them to return it was almost like the darkness had never returned, and he couldn’t help but marvel at the power of Sting’s presence. The other Dragon-slayer’s words had been incredibly cheesy, but he couldn’t help but believe them, allowing them to seep beneath his skin and banish the last remnants of that darkness although he knew that they weren’t gone completely.

“Thank you,” he whispered as he glanced up at Sting who merely smiled down at him, and his lips curled up in response as he snuggled closer with a contented sigh, his eyes slipping shut as he felt Sting’s fingers beginning to comb through his hair.

**

    They sat like that for nearly ten minutes, both needing the reassurance that the other was all right and that the darkness was gone once more, but eventually, Sting forced himself to pull back. Frosch was waiting on them coming back, and he was worried about Natsu’s injury as well, it didn’t make it any easier to pull his arms away from the Shadow mage, especially when Rogue pouted at him for the movement.

“We should get back,” he said softly as he climbed to his feet, groaning as he realised that his knees had seized up and he stretched them before glancing down at Rogue who hadn’t moved at all, sighing at the reluctance he could see in the other’s eyes. “Rogue?”

“Yeah…”

“Frosch is waiting for you,” Sting said softly, and he held out his hand, unsurprised when the mention of the loyal little Exceed was enough to prompt Rogue into motion. He made no move to release Rogue’s hand once he was up, and he didn’t miss the small smile that crept across the Shadow mage’s expression or the faint blush in the pale cheeks before Rogue glanced off to the side, only to come up short as his gaze landed on the still form of the swordsman.

“Should we take him with us?”

“He’s not going anywhere,” Sting replied with a shrug as he glanced dismissively at the mage, not wanting to give Rogue chance to get bogged down in unnecessary guilt again. “Besides I expect Erza’s team will catch up with us soon and they can take care of rounding them up since they missed all the excitement.”

“Some excitement,” Rogue muttered as he allowed Sting to tug him away from the unconscious mage, his gaze drifting down to their entwined hands for a moment before his head shot up in alarm. “How is Natsu doing?” He asked in alarm, realising that he had been so focused on Sting and what he had nearly done with his shadows that he hadn’t asked about the Fire Mage.

“He still needs proper treatment but he was doing fine,” Sting replied, wisely not mentioning his own doubts and concerns about Natsu’s condition and as he caught the slightly horrified expression on Rogue’s face he was quick to add. “He was the one that insisted I come after you.”

“I guess I owe him twice then.”

“We both owe him,” Sting corrected softly, and after a brief hesitation, Rogue nodded, smiling softly as he allowed the other Dragon-slayer to lead him away, pressing close against him and letting the other’s light reassure him that everything would be alright.

****

Omake:

   After stopping to pick up an overly emotional Frosch who had spent several minutes clinging to Rogue and wailing in relief, they headed back to where Sting had left Lector and Natsu. Only to find that the rest of the Fairy Tail team had arrived, and Wendy was already at work healing the Fire mage’s wound, while a stone-faced Gray fidgeted at her side. However, as soon as the Ice mage spotted the trio heading towards them, he shot to his feet, the dark expression on his face warning Sting that he knew what had happened and he swallowed nervously as he felt the chill emanating from the dark-haired mage and he backed away slightly. “Rogue! Protect me!” He shouted diving behind his partner as Gray drew closer, startled when a moment later the other Dragon-slayer disappeared into the shadows, reappearing moments later beside Natsu who welcomed him with a soft smile.

“Rogue!”

“Sorry, I didn’t think protecting you against angry boyfriends was part of the job,” Rogue called back, and there was a lightness to his voice that made it impossible for Sting to be mad at him about the betrayal. Although he rapidly changed his mind as Gray appeared before him, and as he bolted for safety he swore that he would make Rogue pay for this.


End file.
